


When You Were Gone

by seanmacguire



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-23 14:42:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15608526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seanmacguire/pseuds/seanmacguire
Summary: After Shiro goes missing, Keith struggles with the concept of being alone.





	When You Were Gone

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" Keith screamed, tears forming as he stormed into the room.

Shiro turned to the young boy.

"Keith..." He spoke up, softly.

"You told me you'd never leave me. You made me think you..." Keith paused. "You lied to me... You're just like the rest of them."

"Keith..."

"Go on your stupid mission. I don't care, you're just..."

"Keith!"

The younger boy silenced, head dropping as he seethed in anger, shaking lightly as he tried not to cry.

Shiro closed the gap between himself and Keith before gently resting a hand on his shoulder and offering it a squeeze.

"I'm sorry you didn't find out from me first, I should've made sure to tell you sooner. That's on me. But Keith, you know how important this mission is."

"You've not stopped talking about it for months. It's been getting pretty annoying." The younger boy answered quietly.

Shiro quipped a smile.

"I'm sure it has."

Keith plopped himself down on Shiro's couch before his eyes rose to find those of his mentor's.

"Shiro... I didn't mean what I said. I do care. I should never have said that, I..."

"It's okay. You're upset, and you have every right to be."

"I just... what am I gonna' do here? Everyone hates me but you."

"Adam likes you."

"I thought we weren't talking about him."

Shiro exhaled, crouching down to be at eye-level with Keith.

"Just because we've been having some disagreements doesn't mean you should feel any different about him. You two are friends, he'll look out for you when I'm away. I trust him."

"But he said..."

"I know what he said, but that's between me and him, not you. I know you're angry with him, but you have to put that aside."

Keith sighed.

"What?" Shiro asked softly.

"But he's not you."

"I'll be back before you know it, kiddo."

"I don't want to lose you too. I can't. I won't."

"Nothing's gonna' happen, it's just two months and then I'll be back here for you to annoy in no time."

Keith smiled a little at that.

"Now you should head back to your dorm, you've already got two strikes this term, the last thing you need is to be caught wandering the corridors after hours."

"Like they'd ever catch me." The younger boy smirked, mischievously, standing up from the couch.

"Keith..."

"Fine, I'll be careful."

"Everything will be fine, I promise." Shiro smiled, reassuringly.

Keith tried to hold his composure for a few seconds before throwing himself at Shiro's midsection, hugging him.

Momentarily taken aback by the show of affection, Shiro smiled before wrapping an arm around the cadet.

"What brought this on?"

Keith pulled away and shrugged his shoulders with a smirk before rushing off out of the dorm.

Shiro laughed, fondly.

* * *

"The Galaxy Garrison mission to the distant moon of Kerberos is missing; and all crew members are believed to be dead. The Galaxy Garrison has said that the crash was presumably caused by pilot error. It is indeed a sad day for..."

Keith threw the remote at the projection screen causing the broadcast to close before letting out a roar of gut-wrenching pain. His fist clenched before he spoke up.

"SHIRO IS THE GREATEST PILOT IN THE GARRISON'S HISTORY! HE TAUGHT ME EVERYTHING I KNOW. HOW DARE THEY SAY IT WAS PILOT ERROR!"

Adam was still struggling to wrap his head around what he'd just heard.

"He wouldn't make a mistake like that. He couldn't. He's the best pilot I've ever seen. You know how good he is, he's your co-pilot."

"I know."

"Then how can they say that?! How can they make up those lies about him!"

The younger boy became more and more worked up as he began to shake heavily in emotional distress.

"Keith, hey..."

Adam wrapped his arms around him and pulled the boy into a tight embrace.

Keith struck against his chest, fighting for release, tears streaming down his cheeks as he begged and pleaded for the broadcast to be false, but he knew it was not.

Adam was crying too now as he rested his head atop Keith's.

"He said he'd never leave me. He can't be gone... I can't lose someone else. He's the only family I have left..."

"I know..." Adam's voice wobbled as he tried his damnedest to stay strong.

"He..." Keith broke down, tears turning to sobs as he buried himself against Adam's chest.

Adam tightened his grip on the boy, hugging him impossibly close.

"It's okay..."

"No it's not..." Keith struggled.

"Nothing's impossible, right? And if everyone could pull off something insane like this, it would be Shiro."

"So what do we do?" The younger boy asked, looking up to meet Adam's gaze.

"We don't give up hope on him, and we keep going. Shiro would want you to be strong, Keith. He believed in you."

Keith's expression turned nervous.

"You never know, maybe you'll be the one to find him."

The younger boy looked deep in thought before he wiped away tears with the sleeve of the red and white hoodie Shiro had bought him for his birthday. Untangling himself from Adam's embrace, he got up from the couch before rushing out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Adam asked after him, but got no reply.

* * *

After over a week of zero Keith sightings, Adam began to get worried.

He made sure to stop by Iverson's office the first chance he got.

The first thing he noticed was the eye patch over the Commander's right eye, which left a uneasy feeling that he knew what was coming next.

Turned out that his feeling was correct, Keith had gotten himself expelled for punching Iverson after he refused to disclose any information regarding the Kerberos mission.

That seemed a little too far for even someone as temperamental as Keith though, which led Adam to believe that maybe the cadet had done it on purpose for some reason.

Over the next few weeks, Adam did all he could to try and locate the missing boy.

Weeks turned into months, and as the date passed marking one year since Shiro was presumed dead, he couldn't help but feel like the chances of locating Keith were getting slimmer and slimmer.

* * *

It was the early hours of the morning when his phone awoke him.

Clicking it on, there were numerous missed calls and one voicemail from Keith.

Adam's eyes flew open as he rushed to listen to the message.

"Adam, it's Keith... Sorry it's been so long but you gotta' listen to me. I've been tracking some weird stuff lately, and I think the Garrison is hiding something. They've been even more shady than usual. I saw something crash, and it wasn't one of our ships. They've covered up the site, but I need to find out what's in there. Just in case, I wanted you to know what I was doing." The message goes quiet for a few seconds. "...and, I want to say thank you for looking out for me, even if I ran out. I appreciate it." The message ended.

"Shit!" Adam cursed, rushing out of bed.

* * *

After locating the crash site Keith had mentioned, Adam sprinted to the cliffs for a better view, taking the binoculars to have a closer look.

There was a loud commotion taking place before two figures emerged through the entrance.

One wearing a very familiar red and white jacket, and a tall, handsome pilot he'd fallen in love with, weak and barely holding himself upright in Keith's hold.

Numerous other cadets followed them out, none of which Adam could name before they boarded Shiro's old hoverbike and zoomed off into the distance just seconds before crowds of Garrison staff began their chase.

He was just about to try and help them before he heard a gun charge up behind him.

"I'll have your rank for this..." Came the booming voice of Iverson.

Adam sighed unfazed as he smiled, putting his hands up.

Shiro was alive.

And Keith was no longer alone.

That was all that mattered.


End file.
